July 10, 2006, 5:17 PM PDT
2007 Jaguar XK Coupe first take
Posted by: Kevin Massy

It's difficult to know where to look while waiting in traffic behind the wheel of the 2007 Jaguar XK Coupe. Do you stare straight ahead into the middle distance, trying to avoid the rubbernecking pedestrians crossing in front, or do you look out of the side window to meet the longing gaze of the cab driver to the right or the Toyota driver to the left? And if you do make eye contact, what is the appropriate response? A friendly nod? A knowing smile? A wink? We found it best just to occupy ourselves with the dash-mounted touch-screen display until the light--like the people around us--turned green.

Originally envisioned as a convertible, the redesigned, all-aluminum 2007 XK is heartbreakingly gorgeous. Flared rear haunches, a short snout, and an arcing hood that goes on forever combine to give the XK a character of brawny elegance. A couple of vertical vents in the front fenders topped by Jaguar badges break up the car's lines and serve to inform passersby that this is not an Aston Martin.

While it does wonders for the ego to drive the new XK around town, this car is best enjoyed far from the madding crowd. We took the newest Big Cat through its paces on the twisting roads of California's Marin headlands and found it more than equal to the challenge. Jaguar's Electronically Computer Active Technology Suspension (eCATS) with automatic damping comes as standard on the XK and made for precision turn-in and firm, balletic handling through the winding mountain roads. With a 300-horsepower, naturally aspirated V-8, the '07 XK is not the fastest or most powerful car in its class, but its lightweight body (3,671 lbs.) means that a squeeze of the accelerator will push driver and passenger back into their perforated soft-grain leather seats.

Other interior trim is in keeping with Jaguar's luxury reputation: burled walnut veneer, 16-way power-adjustable seats, and a wood-and-leather-trimmed shifter came as part of our car's $3,300 Luxury Package. Amid the classical interior details, there is plenty of cabin tech to differentiate the 2007 XK from its predecessors. The most conspicuous of these is a red Start push-button set into the wood-trimmed center console, which allows drivers to fire up the XK without removing the key fob from their Gucci jacket pockets. Our car also came with the optional Advanced Technology Package ($2,500), comprising adaptive cruise control--enabling drivers to program a preset distance when following other cars on the highway--and adaptive front lights, which actively correspond to the direction of the car's steering wheel to better illuminate the road when cornering.

The 2007 Jaguar XK comes with touch-screen navigation and Bluetooth hands-free calling as standard. We found the navigation system easy to program, although a little slower to operate than other units' due to the integration of Macromedia Flash, which makes the menu screens appear and disappear using animated graphics--a nice visual touch, but a little annoying when you want to find the nearest gas station before the lights change. The XK's navigation system has been overhauled and updated since we evaluated it in the 2006 XKR, and we found its high-resolution maps and turn-by-turn voice guidance accurate and quick to help us out when we missed our highway exit (one of the perils of driving permanently in the left-hand lane).

Pairing our Bluetooth phone however, was not so straightforward. While Jaguar gives its assurance that its Bluetooth systems are compatible with LG's VX8100 cell phone, the XK failed to find it.

Another slight disappointment from our first impression is the XK's standard stereo. There is nothing terrible about the 160-watt, 6-speaker audio system: it plays MP3 and WMA CDs, giving detailed ID3 tag information, and the folder/track navigation is logical and user-friendly. However, sound quality is not all it could be for a car of this class; bass becomes buzzy near the top of the range, and while clarity and depth are good, the midrange has a tendency to squawk at high volume. Jaguar offers an optional 8-speaker, 525-watt Alpine premium sound system with Sirius Satellite Radio for an extra $1,875--a worthwhile drop in the ocean if you've already parted with $81,300 (the price of our optioned-up tester). For an extra six grand, the 2007 Jaguar XK can also be had as a convertible, but we advise against it: with the top down, there's nowhere to hide from all those envious eyes.

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July 10, 2006, 4:12 PM PDT
Radio Handi: a good telephony toolkit
Posted by: Rafe Needleman

Last week at a New Tech Meetup, I got a preview of Radio Handi, a company that's rolling out some useful group communication services. The one I like the most is the free phone conference system that uses e-mail for setup. You e-mail a note to the people you want to have a phone conference with and BCC "invite@radiohandi" as well. Shortly, the Radio Handi bot e-mails all the attendees with the dial-in bridge number.

Why it's great: there's no previous sign-up required, you don't have to set anything up on a Web site, and it's free. Well, sort of: the call to the conference bridge is in the 712 area code in the United States, so toll charges may apply. There are also 30-plus international numbers. The service is also available directly via a SIP-based VoIP network (but not Skype, unfortunately).

There are several free reservationless teleconference services, but Radio Handi is the only one that I know of that lets users bypass the Web sign-up if they want, and do everything by e-mail.

Radio Handi will soon be adding other services, such as a feature that can turn any phone conference into a live MP3 stream. That makes any cell phone essentially an Internet radio station, which is pretty cool. That should roll out this week. Also, the company is buying a big block of phone numbers and may eventually give out temporary-use phone numbers for conferences, instead of a number and an access code. That will make conferences easier to dial in to.

The service also has text features. It lets users manage e-mail and SMS discussion lists and can turn SMS into a group chat (see also: 3jam).

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July 10, 2006, 3:53 PM PDT
Microsoft xPod pics?
Posted by: James Kim

While the giddy folks at Microsoft won't share any details about its upcoming portable media device, the talk on the street is heavy with description and even a pic. Engadget has an image of the so-called xPod (or Argo, as in Project Argo, or its latest moniker, Zune) provided by an inside source. Hard to tell its authenticity at this stage, though many, including myself, think this particular design is underwhelming. What I'd like to know is what the interface (PMC?) looks like, how much it will cost, and what role it will play in the Project Argo universe.

Source: Engadget

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July 10, 2006, 3:40 PM PDT
Me vs. telco lobbyist Scott Cleland
Posted by: Molly Wood

Now, normally I don't do this kind of thing in the Daily Buzz. But I recently wrote a column asserting that we need Net neutrality regulation and that the telco lobbying machine is lying to you about the reasons we don't. This prompted a response from Scott Cleland, the lobbyist whose arguments are rebutted in my column, asking for a debate on the points I made. I chose TalkBack for a public debate, in large part so that the conversation can unfold in real time, online, with CNET users having the maximum opportunity to participate. Scott was concerned that this forum may not be sufficiently public and might be an attempt to bury the debate. So in the interest of calling attention--and because I think this is, indeed, an important debate to be having--I respectfully direct your attention to our smackdown, already in progress. Weigh in at will.

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July 10, 2006, 3:32 PM PDT
High-def DVDs: we're saved!
Posted by: Molly Wood

The unlikely peacemaker in the high-def DVD format war appears to be Ricoh. The company says it's developed a component that will let manufacturers create hybrid players and drives that can read and write both HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs. Two words: Hot diggity. Now I can actually consider buying high-def DVDs (well, OK, once a player comes out), instead of just waiting in vain for some sort of awesome high-def movie download service. Hmm. Nah, I'm still waiting for that.

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July 10, 2006, 1:49 PM PDT
Loomia: a product-recommendation Web service
Posted by: Andrew Gruen

At the San Francisco New Tech Meetup, I saw a presentation from Loomia.com--a company that's working to give even the smallest sites a competitive edge by providing a recommendation engine as a Web service. With Loomia, just about anyone can add Amazon- or Netflix-style recommendations to their site just by pasting a bit of JavaScript into the HTML code.

Loomia provides two different kinds of recommendations. The first will place a listing of similar products or stories on your pages. (See BetterPropaganda.com for an example.) It's a "see more like this" function for any site that has a catalog of items on it.

The second recommendation system is a more interesting personalized list that shows you what items on a site you might like given your behavior on that site. The site tracks your clicks and also offers a voting system. Results come from correlating this data with items or stories that similar users clicked often and/or rated highly. I tried LearnOutLoud.com, a Loomia-powered site that offers downloadable audio books and videos, and found the results to be pretty good. After rating just 4 books, the system made 16 recommendations, unwittingly suggesting 6 books that I have already read and enjoyed. After removing those 6 by rating them and selecting a few other books for a total of 15 ratings, LearnOutLoud.com recommended 5 books already on my reading list.

Loomia's Web service could be great for smaller shopping sites looking to improve their profitability by displaying items users are more likely to purchase. It should also help sites keep customers coming back, as recommendations become more accurate (and therefore more valuable) the more time a customer spends browsing the site.

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July 10, 2006, 1:39 PM PDT
End of the line for the Palm LifeDrive?
Posted by: Bonnie Cha

There's a rumor trickling through cyberspace that Palm is pulling the plug on its LifeDrive and once the remaining stock of these handhelds is sold, that's it--finito. As you may recall, the LifeDrive was a new venture for Palm; it was the premier (and only) model in the new Mobile Manager line and the first PDA with an integrated hard drive. So does this mean that Palm is abandoning the Mobile Manager altogether or just making room for a new model? We've put in some calls to Palm to see what's going on, so hopefully we'll have an update for you soon.

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July 10, 2006, 12:53 PM PDT
Sony Ericsson P990i gets FCC approval
Posted by: Bonnie Cha

It's been two long years since we reviewed the Sony Ericsson P910a, and we've been waiting ever since for a replacement. Well, it looks like the wait may finally be over, as the FCC has approved the Sony Ericsson P990i for the U.S. market. The smart phone runs Symbian OS 9.1 and has integrated Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi (802.11b), and a 2-megapixel camera. The triband (GSM 900/1800/1900) P990i also sports a QWERTY keyboard, an Office document viewer, multimedia goodies, and a Task Manager so that you can switch between apps. No word yet on specific release dates or pricing, but we have our feelers out, so be sure to so check back soon for updates.

Source: MobileWhack

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July 10, 2006, 9:52 AM PDT
Kensington launches new kind of FM transmitter for iPod
Posted by: James Kim

Accessories bigshot Kensington unveiled the world's first RDS FM transmitter for the iPod. So what's different about this $89.99 piece of car gear? It transmits your iPod's song and artist info to your compatible car stereo display using the increasingly popular Radio Data System (RDS). The RDS standard (adopted in the States in 1993) allows broadcasters to use an FM subfrequency to add text and other metadata, such as song and radio station names.

According to Kensington, "RDS is now available in most vehicle models offered by leading U.S. and foreign automakers. Our research indicates that over 80 percent of all new cars being sold in the U.S. include RDS-enabled stereos. RDS is a hugely popular feature and is quickly becoming mainstream. The new Kensington RDS FM Transmitter is the first to allow iPod consumers to take advantage of this exciting car stereo technology."

The transmitter itself is in-line style, with the iPod connecting to the end of the cable via a dock connector. It includes three presets and allows station info to appear on your iPod's LCD. In addition, it's made for all iPods with dock connectors except 3G iPods. The RDS feature works with the iPod Nano or a video iPod. We'll have a review of this interesting FM transmitter shortly.

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July 10, 2006, 9:27 AM PDT
Cracking the Blu-ray/HD-DVD code
Posted by: Dan Ackerman

It's a widely accepted axiom that any new media format or copy-protection scheme will be cracked sooner or later (usually sooner). So it comes as no surprise that the copy protection on the new high-definition Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats is one step closer to being opened up, mere weeks after Blu-ray's debut.

HD Beat reports that when a Blu-ray or HD-DVD disc is being played on a PC (such as the Sony VAIO RC310G) using the HD version of Intervideo's WinDVD software, individual frames can be captured in full resolution by hitting the Print Screen key. This by itself doesn't do anyone much good, but hypothetically, you could automate the process of capturing each frame and reassembling it into a high-definition copy.

This particular software hole should be patched soon, but it's clearly the first step in what will be a long dance between hackers and hardware vendors.

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